Ataman, F
Poortmans, P
Stupp, R.
Fisher, B
Mirimanoff, RO
The phase III randomised European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) and National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trail Group (NCIC) Intergroup trial (EORTC 26981/22981; CE3) compares irradiation alone with irradiation plus temozolomide for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). We evaluated the compliance to radiotherapy (RT) guidelines. All 8 5 recruiting centres were invited to participate in the individual case review. Fifty-four centres (64%) entering 71% of the patients provided data on one randomly selected patient. All participating centres used individual head immobilisation and computerised tomography (CT)-based treatment planning. Most (74%) performed three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3-D-CRT) including dose-volume histograms. Ninety-four percent performed portal imaging at least once. Planning target volume (PTV) and structures at risk were delineated in most of the centres (94%). Although the PTV received <95% of the prescription dose (60 Gy in 2 Gy/fraction/day) in 39% of the centres; all except 2 centres delivered 50-60 Gy to the PTV. The maximum dose to the critical structures exceeded the protocol dose constraints in 39% of the reviewed patients, but in only 9% was this over the acceptable tolerance dose reported in the literature. We found a high rate of compliance with the protocol and general RT guidelines in the centres participating in this individual case review. In multicentre trials with a large of number of investigators from international and national groups, it is essential to confirm the interinstitutional consistency, qualitatively and quantitatively. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Bibliographic reference |
Ataman, F ; Poortmans, P ; Stupp, R. ; Fisher, B ; Mirimanoff, RO. Quality assurance of the EORTC 26981/22981; NCICCE3 intergroup trial on radiotherapy with or without temozolomide for newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme: the individual case review. In: European Journal of Cancer, Vol. 40, no. 11, p. 1724-1730 (2004) |
Permanent URL |
http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/40029 |